VOLUNTEERS from a closure-hit charity are banding together to ensure its life-saving work continues.

As a result of ‘savage’ funding cuts, Gay Advice Darlington and Durham (GADD) is currently preparing to close its doors forever.

In response to the charity’s demise, three of its volunteers founded LGBT Unity Darlington, hoping to plug the vacuum GADD’s impending closure will leave behind.

Phillippa Scrafton, Andrew Cull and Jordana Hunter have pledged to build upon the invaluable services provided by GADD.

Their organisation offers support services for the LGBT community and will act as an umbrella service, incorporating groups formerly run as part of GADD, such as the Phoenix youth group and Club T, for transgender people.

It will focus on tackling hate crime while ensuring trained counsellors are available to continue GADD’s life-saving work.

With a focus on providing vital drop-in services, the founders are now appealing for help in securing a permanent base, saying the current economic climate meant it was more important than ever for organisations across Darlington to work in partnership.

Counsellor Ms Hunter, 31, said: “Every week, at GADD, I saw people in crisis who need our support just walk in and ask for help - because there were trained counsellors in the building, we were able to provide it on a drop-in basis.

“That service can mean the difference between life and death and we want to continue to provide it without worrying about the costs of room hire or where we’ll be able to see them.”

LGBT Unity is based at Three4Darlington, on Priestgate, every Tuesday from 10am until 4.30pm, with its youth group running at Club Bar One from 10am until 3pm on a Saturday and Club T at the Voodoo Café from 7.30pm on a Sunday.

Founders are appealing for help in securing funding and a base from where to host their operations in the long-term.

Mr Cull said: “We need a stable place for drop-ins so that we can be there when people need us. There is a real need for them to know there’s somewhere they can go where people understand the issues they face and how to tackle them.”

For more information or to offer help, visit LGBT Unity Darlington on Facebook.